Accessible Upgrade

[510picker]

I'm posting this for all of us that require wheelchair accessible staterooms. I've always been envious of cruisers that talk about being upgraded on their cruise. As we all know, just booking an accessible cabin for the cruise we want can often be challenging, let alone have any hope of being upgraded. There is hope for upgrades after all!

 

I booked our November 10-day Holland America cruise on the Noordam in June. I booked directly with HAL using one of their personal cruise consultants. He was very helpful during the booking process and we booked an inside accessible cabin, but I also spoke with him at length about the possibilty of being upgraded. He said he would mark my reservation as interested in an upgrade, but only if it was to another accessible cabin.

 

Today I got an e-mail offering an upsell from our inside cabin to a verandah cabin for $99/person. I got a little excited, but then reality hit and I figured the chances of an accessible verandah room still being available were slim to none, but sure enough there was one left. We upgraded from I-8037 to VA-8032 for $99/person. Thank you Holland America!!

 

I guess I'm posting this to let everyone know that it is possible to get an upgrade/upsell, even if you need an accessible room.

[Starr Mtn]

So happy to hear of your upgrade. Also being a wheelchair cruiser -

I'm especially delighted it was offered to you ! You will enjoy

the extra room and other amenities. It's so nice to open

the door and enjoy the sound of the ocean. I've usually

been able to manage getting my wheelchair to the balcony.

Sometimes there is a ramp built in - covered by carpeting. If so,

be careful not to slip over the edge of the ramp inside by the

door. My experience the ramp wasn't sloped on the edge.

Best wishes for a wonderful cruising experience .

[rangeley]

Congrats on your upgrade! We always say we don't want an upgrade because we have heard sometimes they upgrade to a regular cabin, which of course is stupid. We always get a large cabin with a veranda and we never wanted to be upgraded to a smaller cabin on a higher deck. Maybe next time we will book through a consultant and see what happens. Thanks for the info!

[510picker]

Congrats on your upgrade! We always say we don't want an upgrade because we have heard sometimes they upgrade to a regular cabin, which of course is stupid. We always get a large cabin with a veranda and we never wanted to be upgraded to a smaller cabin on a higher deck. Maybe next time we will book through a consultant and see what happens. Thanks for the info!

 

The consultant made sure my reservation was marked not to be automatically upgraded. I told him I would very interested in an upgrade to a better accessible cabin, but having an accessible cabin was an absolute necessity. He understood and said he would do all he could to get me an upgrade. Whether he really did anything or not I will never know. I do know he was extremely helpful, knowledgable and patient during the booking process. The price of our cruise went down in August and he helped in getting us the lower cost. This is our 4th HAL cruise and the first time we have used a HAL personal cruise consultant, but definitely not the last.

[uppitycats]

Excellent! I've heard that HAL was especially sensitive to people with disabilities; this surely seems like it is to! Have a great cruise.

[carlo56]

My understanding is most cruiselines have an automated upgrade system that manages cabins for them. If you want to be 100 percent sure of gettig an accessible stateroom and they ask you if you want an auto upgrade, say no. Otherwise they will have no control over what you get ntil it's too late and your first stateroom has been filled.

 

You may of course get lucky and be offered one anyway, in which case always ask the question because you never know your luck;)

[Micmac]

Congratulations! It sounds like you covered all your bases and all the stars aligned for you.

 

Hope you are having a great cruise in your accessible verandah!